Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

Halo 2, is just simply put, one of the most exhilarating, entertaining and unpredictable games of 2004. Halo 2 could also be known as one of the most over hyped games of 2004 as well, and this continuous non-stop of over hyping Halo 2 caused many Halo 2 fans to be disappointed with the game campaign or more specific, the ending of the game.

I’m not going to say what happens or anything but the fact that gamers were expecting a better ending to the game. But why were they disappointed with the result of the campaign? Bungie never said squat about their campaign, right from day one. Most gamers think that Bungie promised something that was what everyone could piece together from the various trailers and stills that were going around on the internet. Subsequently, it’s a thing called marketing, which obviously worked well considering the amount of hype Halo 2 received.

If you did what I did and kept an open mind and didn’t attach anything to it before you play the game, you'll find it to be a fantastic sequel that sets up a third game; a chapter in the story, definitely worth the two-three year wait.

Preconceived notions of what a game will be is what kills the majority of the game in most situations. The only thing Bungie ever promised was a deeper story and game play that was less repetitive, better vehicles and physics, more balanced weapons, and Xbox Live.

That is what Bungie delivered.

The original Halo was a fantastic game because it came out of nowhere, with no expectations attached and wowed us all. With Halo 2, from the minute they announced it, people were all over it, speculating and wondering what it could be like.

There was hype, there was drama, and there were expectations of delivering the absolute best first person shooter game anyone had ever seen.

With Halo, the gaming community got to see the stunning graphics, the fantastic AI, the fast-paced game play, and a pretty damn good story, all delivered in one package; something that had not been done on a console before.

Now we have a sequel that does things better than the original, but it’s simply not as ‘wow’ as the first one because it’s been done before. It’s like having a great piece of apple pie, then having a second piece with ice cream. You know it’s better than the first, but you're used to it by now.

Take it as you will, but people developed expectations, and any sane person knows that most expectations are not met because people's expectations, especially in the gaming industry, are too broad. Even Bungie themselves admitted that three years was not enough time to develop the game. No good developer ever has enough time, as there's always stuff that could be added, tweaked or redone. But in the end, the game has to be completed and sent out to consumers, so it’s a careful balance of what they want to be done to what can be done.

For me, Halo 2 is out of this world; way better than the original in almost every way because I expected only what I knew was going to be delivered. A deep story, smarter AI, enjoyable, fast game play, the ability to take Halo on Xbox Live, and the continuation of the Halo story. And you know what? That's exactly what I got, and I couldn't be happier with the game.